


The Lady of the House of the Arch

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-25
Updated: 2007-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1632698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>London Below lay before Door, with all of its mysteries and secrets to explore. Today would be a grand day. It would also be the last day she saw her family alive and well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lady of the House of the Arch

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lynette, who brought Door to life for me, and to Lynne, who keeps her in my heart.
> 
> Written for such_heights

 

 

The Lady of the House of the Arch

Door closed her eyes against the light creeping under her bedroom curtains. She yawned and stretched even as she burrowed under the covers for five more minutes of glorious sleep. Then she remembered today was a day of exploration, and she sat up, throwing off the covers.

She loved days like this with nothing before her but random wandering through the Underside. One day, long from now, she would be Lady of the House of the Arch, and she would in her father's role. She had to know as much about the Underside as he did. She was pleased to be old enough to go on her own, but she missed her excursions with her father. As long as she was back within two days, she could do as she liked. 

Arch was terribly jealous, as he wouldn't be able to go on his own for another two years. That made it even more fun. She loved her little brother, but it was fun to lord things over him sometimes. 

She dressed hurriedly, pulling on two tattered, but favorite, skirts with leggings under and a red blouse. She grabbed her over-large coat as she pressed her palm to the painting of the kitchen hanging on her wall. 

Stepping into the kitchen, she blinked at the bright light and the loud, happy voices of her family.

"Mummy, can I have more pancakes?" Ingress called, in between licking her sticky sweet fingers.

"-and then I said to him, No, you can't because I won't let you," said Arch, deep in conversation with his father.

"Well done, my boy," Portico replied. "I'm proud of you to standing up to the thug. What then?"

"Ingress, for heaven's sake, use your napkin, dear. You've syrup all over you," Portia said, sliding another pancake onto Ingress' plate. She smiled up at Door. "Good morning, darling. Would you like pancakes?"

"There's my girl," said Portico, standing and giving his eldest child a kiss on the cheek. 

She hugged her father. "Good morning! Mum, I'd love some pancakes." Door ruffled Arch's hair as she swung into the chair beside him. "Still bragging about scaring off that idiot from Moorsgate?" 

"I'm not bragging," her younger brother scoffed. "That whole clan insults us whenever they get a chance. You'd best watch yourself against them."

"Door can hold her own, can't you, dear?" her father said, beaming.

"Yes, but she should still be cautious," said Portia, setting a plate of pancakes in front of Door. "As should her brother."

"And me, too?" chirped Ingress.

"And you, too," said Portia, sitting down across from Portico. "We're of the House of the Arch; that doesn't mean we're invincible."

Door laughed. "We can open our way out of anything, though, so who needs to be invincible?"

"Daughter, it's not a laughing matter," said Portico. "There are dangers, even for us. Especially for us."

"Yes, Father," she replied, her tone sober. "I'll be careful. I always am."

"I know you will," he said, smiling again. "You must, or I'll have no one to protect me from- I mean, accompany me to the Marylebone's fête next week, since your poor mother refuses to speak with her." He winked at Portia.

Portia was not amused. "This new Marylebone doesn't know her place," she sniffed.

"Marylebones _never_ know their place," said Door and Arch at the same time. They broke up into laughter over this bone of contention. Marylebones were female leaders of a large clan complex in the Underside, and they tended to be attractive, assertive, and not mindful of proper behavior around married men.

Ingress joined in the laughter, even though she didn't understand why, and this made her parents laugh as well. 

"Don't worry, Mum, I'll protect Father from the latest Marylebone's advances, and I'll be very careful on my exploration today." Door stood, stuffing one last bite of pancake into her mouth. "I'm off!"

"That's for sure," said Arch, and Door whacked him playfully on the head as she passed his chair. She dropped a kiss on the top of Ingress' head, deftly avoiding her syrupy grasp, and hugged her mother and father.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her fingerless gloves. Slipping them on, she reached for the painting to the front gallery. Looking over her shoulder, she called out, "Goodbye!" and opened into the gallery and then out to the Underside.

There was no way of knowing this was the last time she'd see her family alive and well.

She smiled and hummed to herself as she chose the way to go. London Below lay before her, with all of its mysteries and secrets to explore. Today would be a grand day.

Door opened her eyes to yet another morning. She didn't take waking every day for granted any longer. She sat up, not wanting her eyes to close again. When her eyes closed, sometimes her thoughts went down paths she did not wish to tread, and she remembered things she never wanted to think on again if she could help it. 

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and for one sleep-fuzzed moment, she wondered what her mother would make for breakfast.

Then she remembered. Her mother was buried in a shallow grave in a garden courtyard. She had dug the hole and placed her body there herself, alongside her father and Arch. She would give anything to have them back again.

She thought back to the door she'd opened in the angel's lair. Almost anything.

This was her third day back on her own in the House of the Arch, which didn't feel anything like home any longer. She'd avoided the messages brought by rat after rat - notes offering support and succor from allied families, clan leaders who respected her father and her House, her mother's relatives in Marble Arch. She knew she must answer them soon, but she couldn't bear it. She knew she must step into her father's role soon. But not yet. Just- not yet.

She pulled on some clothes; she didn't stop to examine them, but merely made sure she was covered. Because it was habit, she grabbed her coat as she moved through the painting into the kitchen.

The room was so quiet, it made her head ache. She rummaged around the cupboards for some crackers. It was all she could stomach this morning.

If only Richard had stayed- but she didn't blame him for wanting to go home. She nibbled a cracker as she walked around the kitchen table, her fingers brushing the backs of the chairs. She remembered her father's laugh, her mother's smile, Arch's snide comments... and Ingress.

Ingress was still out there. The thought had haunted her since Islington had tempted her with the possibility. If Door had been terrified of Croup and Vandemar, she could just imagine how frightened her little sister was. She was only four, and she was the only family Door had left in the world.

It was time to find her.

Door reached into her pocket and pulled out her fingerless gloves. She stared at them a moment, and then she slipped them on. Then she rummaged through the notes on the table. The Knights of Sloan Square had written, as had their closest family friends, the Lord and Lady of the Green Park. She would go to them first.

When she placed her hand on the painting to the front gallery, she let out a shaky breath. Then she lifted her head high.

She was the Lady of the House of the Arch, and she could do anything. She would find Ingress, and she would bring her back. Then this house would be a home again.

 


End file.
